Bedtime Fairytale
by Serenity Hart
Summary: I wanted to create a new fairytale, and this is what I came up with.  Your basic Princess gets saved bedtime story.


Once upon a time there was a small, and happy kingdom. Within was a princess who had many suitors; however, she denied them all. A King from a far away kingdom offered one of his 8 sons to her, but she denied him. The King was furious and laid a curse upon the princess.

"You will witness the fall of your kingdom forever," he vowed.

The next morning, when the princess rose with the sun, the people within the kingdom's walls broke out into civil war. When the sun fell, with the last of its light gone, a man in shadow killed the princess. She lay dead, through the night, but when the sun rose the next day, she was whole; as though it had been a terrible dream. The princess cast her eyes upon her kingdom and watched, again as the citizens began to war.

She was trapped, rising in the morning, and dying with last of the suns rays.

One day, a Shepard and his young son were leading their sheep through the fields and the young boy wondered out into the rolling fog. He came upon a large stone wall, slowly being overgrown by vines and bushes. With great care, he scaled the wall and looked down upon the weeping form of the princess. So struck was he, that the boy did not realise his father had come up behind him. He was pulled from the wall, and scolded, before being taken back to the flock, and then home.

The weeping princess haunted his dreams for many years. When he was finally able to take the flock out on his own, the young man found his way back to the wall and left the sheep to graze. He climbed, as he had years before, and peered down at the princess who sat on a stone bench.

He called out to her, and she turned with a fright.

"I am Henry the Shepard," he smiled.

The princess hesitated, "I am Princess Elluria."

The spoke for some time, but as the sun began to disappear behind the young Shepard, the princess dismissed herself for the night. Henry took his leave, collected the sheep and returned home. He returned the next day, to the princess sitting at the stone bench with worried expression. He tried to inquire, but she just smiled and began a new conversation.

Everyday, no matter the weather, the young Shepard climbed the wall, and spoke long with the lovely princess. However, one day, the princess and Shepard were so engaged in their conversation that they had not realised the state of the sun until the only light was that of a torch burning behind her. The princess quickly realised her err, but was too late. The man of shadow slayed her, and vanished without acknowledging the witness. Henry stared down at her body, unable to move. He returned to the base of the wall and fell asleep, vowing to care for her burial when light was upon them.

He awoke the next morn to heavy weeping from beyond the wall. He thought it was a maid, or perhaps the Queen, who had found her and was grieving. Henry peered over the wall and cleared his eyes at the sight. Elluria was kneeling before the stone bench with head and arms cast upon it, her body heaving with every muffled cry. He called out to her, hoping that he was not still in sleep. She rose immediately, and ran to the wall, apologizing and explaining to him of the curse.

Henry frowned at the princess, and vowed to find the King who had cursed her, and slay him, so that the curse might end. She shook her head, saying that it had been many, many years since the curse had been made, the King had been old, and he was likely already dead. Nonetheless, the young Shepard set forth to the kingdom of the foreign King to seek relief.

For three years he searched, and at last he found the foreign kingdom. When he made court with the new King, he found that it was the denied son, now old and near death. He bared no ill-will to the princess, and had not known of the curse. The old son explained that he must enter the kingdom, then take the princess with him when he leaves before twilight, and the curse would be broken. It was so simple, that the, now, man had not done so already was strange.

He returned to the princess with great haste, reaching the shrinking wall within half-a-year. When he called the princess, she came with great tears to see him. Henry fought hard with his mind as he swung his legs of the wall and dropped down. Elluria embraced him tightly, and again he fought, pulling her away so that he could concentrate. Finally, with great effort of mind, he lifted the princess and sat her upon the edge of the stone wall.

Just as he was about to climb up beside her, the man of shadow flurried into the garden and struck at Henry. The two fought for several hours, until the sun haloed the head of the princess. The man cast the shadow to the ground and staked it there with its own sword; then scaled the wall and took Elluria into his arms. The two landed softly on the other side as the kingdom behind erupted into darkness. The Shepard carried the princess back to his home, leaving the eternally dying kingdom to wither in the fogs.

When the old son passed into death, word came that he bequeathed the foreign kingdom to the Shepard and the Princess. The two lived happily ever after.


End file.
